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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707971">Morning Talks</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallieRuiz/pseuds/CallieRuiz'>CallieRuiz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Far Cry 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, it's just really soft, not part of Salvation's Two Paths</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:40:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,197</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707971</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallieRuiz/pseuds/CallieRuiz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just one of those conversations you can have once together.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>John Seed/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Morning Talks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The air started to grow warmer as spring came back to Hope County, with its azure skies and greenery showing through the snow. Looking up to the Whitetail mountains you could see the snowy peaks and it reminded Cat of home. Colorado and Montana shared the Rockies but there was something that made them seem like they were vastly different. Maybe it was the lack of Flatirons that always looked like a painted backdrop, or the way that mountains here seemed to have a silver halo to them. Either way it made her feel at peace as she looked out the window with her warm cup of hot chocolate, that had a small splash of coffee. </p><p>She hated the taste of it but with the ever changing sleep schedule of John she needed the extra boost of caffeine. He was up late last night and she chose to wait for him until he came in tired and with some blood on him at three am. There wasn’t much talking between them, just her making sure he had what he needed to get a good night’s rest. The better sleep he got the easier it was for him to control his flares of anger. </p><p>She was far from being a fan of it but they had made great strides in practicing better habits. One of which was getting a good night’s rest, so she made sure he didn’t have to spend much time getting ready. He could go straight to bed and she could snuggle with him hoping that one day maybe he can finally find the best version of himself. </p><p>“Are you looking forward to it being summer again?” John said behind her sitting up in the bed. It was noon, meaning he actually slept in on a day off. </p><p>Catlina didn’t turn around her eyes lost in the beauty of the midday, “In some ways. I’m ready to go out in the woods again. You think it’ll be different than it was last year?”</p><p>“You are a different person now, according to your musings that should indicate a new perspective.” She turned to him rolling her eyes, “I just remember how much fun you had being out there when we first met. I could not figure out how you could be that happy with everything else that was happening to you.” He had his arms outstretched to her wanting her to come back to bed. </p><p>Cat put the cup down on the night stand climbing in next to him keeping above the sheets, “It was the only thing I could do to keep sane. I took to the one healthy thing I did when I was younger to navigate the impending depression, look for the smallest thing that makes you happy to keep you going for that day.” </p><p>His arms wrapped around her, “So flowers and falling into streams was the happiness for the day?”</p><p>“It also helped to be outside I think too, I didn’t feel so trapped.” Cat brought his left hand up to eye level re reading the Latin on them. When she was done she placed a kiss on the back of his hand and placed her fingers between his. </p><p>“Do you feel happy now?” She felt the kiss on her shoulder. </p><p>“I do, most days. The sad days are a part of who I am, a part of depression and anxiety that I accepted a long time ago.” She looked up behind her to his face, “There’s a lot that can be changed about me John, my brain chemistry isn’t one of them unfortunately. Even with medication it’s still there, I just have to navigate it. Just like you are now.” </p><p>He shifted a little under her, it was a sign to her that they were getting into territory he wasn’t comfortable with. She kept silent letting him change the subject. “How did you learn to find the small things? Maybe you can teach me or tell me which of the many books you read it was in?”</p><p>“Hmm oh it wasn’t in a book. I just kind of taught myself, took some time and I know part of it was based in the Grateful Journal practice, which just never worked for me.”</p><p>“Two questions then: One what is that? And two what taught you or at least gave you the idea?” He seemed more alert now, part of it was to see what answer he would get from her. He found entertainment in seeing if her answers were going to be expected or far fetched. There was apparently no in between with her answers and this was annoying to her. She never had anyone say that unless it came to her characters in Dungeons and Dragons with her friends. </p><p>“A Grateful Journal is a coping practice where at the end of the day you list at least five things you are grateful for that day beyond living, though some days that’s all there is. Eventually you start to try and list more things but it takes time. It’s close to cognitive therapy in that it’s trying to reroute your thoughts to healthier ones. If that makes sense?” She looked up at him again, she always felt insecure trying to explain concepts to him because this was all her interpretation of them. She was no expert despite her degree and tended to explain in weird ways that circled around.</p><p>He shrugged, “I guess. It sounds like a lot of work.”</p><p>She smiled and kissed his hand again, “Well yeah, to make yourself better there is work involved. Trust me I would love to have a wand that could just make everything better.”</p><p>“And I’m not looking to go to college again right now,” she elbowed him lightly eliciting some laughter from him, “but what about my second question.”</p><p>She looked down, feeling herself blush mumbling, “I learned it from Owl City songs.”</p><p>“What was that?” he was still smiling and acted like he couldn’t understand her, “You’re going to have to repeat that.”</p><p>She grumbled to herself having a hard time holding back her smile, “Make me say it louder when I know you heard me. You just want to confirm your belief.” He shook her lightly, encouraging her to answer again, “I learned it from Owl City songs. Happy now?”</p><p>“Yes, but confused. Wasn’t that a cherry pop song back in the day?” He was getting ready for law school when she was hearing those songs for the first time. “Weren’t you supposed to be listening to metal and rock songs because you were apparently so edgy and cool.”</p><p>“I never said I was cool. It was high school and so what if I had a few pop songs they were good songs.” She crossed her arms in a childlike anger, “I happened to be listening to their album one day and all of a sudden it hit me that the contents of his songs were about small things in life and they were all happy so I thought maybe that was the secret to being happy.”</p><p>“Was it?”</p><p>“Not the one answer. I was disappointed but it would stave off the feelings of wanting to die for just a few minutes and honestly that’s what I needed. It was better than nothing.”</p><p>He kissed her neck to her temple, “Well I’m glad that it kept you here long enough to bring you into my life.” It was hard to be mad at him when he kissed her like that and said words like that in his accent that he knew made her melt. “Do you want to sing me one of their songs? Or just any song while I hold you,” he kissed her once more on her lips, “Please?”</p><p>She rolled her eyes taking a breath, “Why do you ask me to sing all the time? I’m not that good and I only remember a few lyrics here and there.”</p><p>“I just like hearing your voice. Is that such a crime my Catlina?” He kept kissing her neck, “Please. Just a few lines.”</p><p>“Fine but you might just get humming after one line.” She took a breath and thought about the song she wanted to sing, “Do you only know Fireflies?” He shrugged in a ‘I couldn’t tell ya’ way, “You’re useless sometimes you know that? But that’s the only really mainstream hit he had.” She hummed the tune to get it in her head before attempting to string the lyrics together. They were there in her head but got jumbled up and she started to give up, “You’d think me rude but I would just stand and stare…and I don’t remember the rest of it in order.”</p><p>He laughed softly to himself, “I have one memory of that song and I think it was at a college party. Real rager that one was.” </p><p>“If my math is correct you would be getting ready for the LSATs I think. So party hard before the real work starts. What did you get on those by the way?”</p><p>“Fuck if I remember. Had to be decent to get into law school though.” </p><p>“I mean you had to be very good at it because you do know what you’re doing here.” Catlina looked back out the window feeling a breeze come through the room. “You think we can have, well whatever meal because time is a social construct, outside?”</p><p>“But I want to stay here with you,” he whined, pulling her closer. “I’m not done being in bed with you.” She turned so she could lie on his chest better while he contented himself tracing patterns on her exposed skin. “You know these moments with you are what I look forward to the most.” His voice brought her out of her head, “It makes me forget that this started with an arranged marriage. I sometimes wish that we met in some random place and I just couldn’t get you out of my mind, so I found any excuse to see you again.” He pushed some locks of her hair behind her ear, “Do you think you would give me the time of day?”</p><p>“Maybe not at first. I was never one for your bigger personalities, but I’m sure you’d make me laugh or say something that I couldn’t stop thinking about. It would get to a point where my friends would say that I needed to just either ask you on a date or move on.”</p><p>“So pretty much what already happened.” She shrugged, “Well at least you’re consistent. How do you wish we could have met?”</p><p>That was a hard question, in all reality they wouldn’t have run in the same circles. There was a low chance of them meeting. “Well if we happened to be in the same area, I feel like I’d be working in the court house helping kids and teens there being their support. I’d be walking stuck in my thoughts or rushing somewhere-”</p><p>“You’re never late so I doubt you’d be rushing.”</p><p>She rolled her eyes, “Hey fantasy scenario here. Where was I…Any way I’d bump into you and things will fly from our hands or someone spills a drink on the other or both. Maybe you’re the one in a rush and scrambling to get your papers together and I’m trying to get my stuff together also. I’d be apologizing profusely the entire time. By the end of it all when I’m going through the papers I notice that there are some that aren’t mine. Thankfully the office name or your name is on them so I can find you.” </p><p>“So you become my stalker?”</p><p>“No,” she lightly elbowed him, “Now stop interrupting. I find your office and am probably really nervous seeing you again because I’d have convinced myself that you’d be angry at me. But I would be so nervous my legs are shaking as I walk into your office that I trip over myself, landing in your arms. I’d be embarrassed and would do what I could to walk out of there as fast as I can. We see each other in passing at the courthouse a few more times, each time I’m avoiding eye contact, until one day you ask if we could grab a coffee at a cafe nearby. I’ll say yes and we’ll talk and continue to meet there in between cases until I or you decide to ask the other on a real date.”</p><p>“Who pays for all the drinks?”</p><p>“I pay for my own drinks, cause I’m still a strong independent woman.” She smiled as he laughed nuzzling his face into her neck.</p><p>“Sounds like a storybook romance. Not like mine was any different.” There came a natural silence that followed as the two of them laid there lost in thoughts of what could have been. John was the first to break the quiet, “For all talks about what could have been, one thing would be the same. It’s that I would be enamored after interacting with you.” He kissed her deeply, not needing to say more as they settled into each other’s arms.</p>
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